Railway draft rigging



Aug. 16, 1932. w, A, GElGER 1,871,451

RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING d. Filed'mrch 1o. 192s Patented Aug. YI6, 1932 1 UNITED STATES PATENT ortica WILLIAM A.V C-EIGER, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNon To w. tI. MINnn, INC., or

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or DELAWAREY I Y RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGlNG Y Application led March 10, 1928. Serial No. 260,560.

This invention relates to improvements in railway draft riggings.

In the operation of railways, there is al constant tendency toward longer trains and 5 larger and heavier oars, thereby demanding high capacity in shockY absorbing mechanisms, and especially in buff. On account of the restrictions and limitations as to the permissible space which may be occupied by 1o the shock absorbingr mechanism, and, further, due to the necessity of avoiding in creased train slack, some difficulty has been experienced in fulfilling the requirements for increase in shock absorbing devices.

One Obj-ect of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of railway draft riggings, wherein increased capacity is obtained in buff by providing a relatively longer stroke of the mechanism without increasing the stroke in draft.

Another object of the invention is to Vprovide a railway draftrigging of the character indicated, wherein additional capacity is obtained in bu by lengthening the stroke of the shock 'absorbing mechanism and providing, in addition, independent spring shock absorbing means which is located exterior to the draft sills and is actuated during the latter part of the buiiing stroke in unison with the friction shock absorbingdevice.

A further object of the invention is to provide a railway draft `rigging having a draft movement of standard length and a buifing stroke in excess of the draft lmove-l ment, including a friction shock absorbing mechanism which isV actuated during the entire bulfing stroke, and a spring shock absorbing means independent Vof the friction shock absorbing mechanism which is -actuated during the Vlatter partof the bufling action Vand in unison with lthe friction4 shock absorbing mechanism, and wherein an additional spring device is provided which acts as a centering means for the coupler and is also 'effective in draft'to provide spring resistance in addition to the resistance afforded by the friction shock absorbing means.

A still further-object of the invention isto provide, in a .draft rigging for railway cars including a shock absorbing means actuated by the coupler, shank connected to the yoke enclosing the shock absorbing mechanism and relatively to which the coupler is movable in buff, yielding meansv for maintaining the f ycoupler properly centered.

MoreV specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a railway draft rigging including the usual draft sills, a friction shock absorbing means betweenthe sills, a yoke enclosing the friction shock absorbing'means and'conneoted to the coupler, spring shock absorbing means exteriorrtothe draft sills actuated in unison with the friction shock absorbing mechanismduring the last part' of the buiiing stroke through the medium of a key extending through the yoke and cooperating with the coupler', a coupler key connecting the yoketo'the coupler to actuate the friction shock absorbing mechanism in draft, and centering spring means co-oper-l ating with the coupler'key for centering the coupler. y v Y In the drawing, forming a part of this specification, yFigure 1 is a horizontal, lon` gitudinal, sectional view'of a portion of a railway draft rigging, showing my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view, partly in side elevation, taken along the line 2 2 of Figure l and 'showing the front end portion of the improved mechanism. Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, butshowing a different embodiment of the invention.

' Referring to the Vconstruction illustrated in Figures V1 and 2, 10-10 indicate the usual channel-shaped center or draft sills of'a railway carV under-frame- The bodybolster is designated byfll and the usual centerfillerV casting 112 is associated with the bolster and is disposed between the draftsills,- thesame having a'transverse front end wall 13 func-V tioning as a rear abutment Lfor the shock absorbing mechanism. The usual angle end sill is designated by 14, to which-issecnred the end sill proper.. 15 which has the usual central opening tov accommodate the lshankof the` coupler at the' corresponding endof the car. A. combined striking plate and carry iron 16,

of well knownty-pe, is secured to the end'sill, the angle sill 14 and the draft sills 1O10.

loo

parts so proportioned that the travel in` com'-,

pression is greater than customary. In the present instance, the shock absorbingmechanism is shown 0f that type having a friction shell and cooperatingk friction elements and as herein shown, comprises afriction shell or casing 17, a pair of friction shoes 18 cooperating with .the shell, and a main wedge block 19, movement of the shoes being resisted by spring means within the shell, not

shown. The friction shock absorbing deviceV is disposed within the yoke B and has the wedge member 19 thereof bearing on a follower 20 which is interposed between the rear end connect-ing section of the yoke and the4 friction shock absorbing device. The front end of` the friction casing or shell bears directly on the front follower` block D. The front follower block D is interposed between the side arms of the yoke member B.V

As shown7 the yoke member B is Vhorizoni tally disposed and is of U-sliaped form, having longitudinally extendingside arms 2li- 21; rIhe side arms arepprovided with aligned slots 22--22 at the forward ends thereof, adapted to accommodate the usual coupler key. In-

wardly of the slots 22, the side arms are pro-- vided with an additional set ofaligned slot-s 23-23, adapted to accommodate the key-.Kvr

which serves as a stop for the front follower block D during a draftyaction and as apressure transmitting device in co-operatin g with said block during aV buffing action. As

shown, the blockD isslotted, as indicatedat 24, to accommodate thev key K. The slot is of Vsucha length as to permit relative movement of the-block D and key Kk during a vlmfling movement of the coupler A.

`The coupler A is connected to the yoke B' bymeansof'thetransverse key J, which eX- tends through an opening provided in the Vcoupler shank and the aligned-openings 22 of therside arms 2l of the yoke B.

In rorder to properly guide thekeys J and K, and also to limit their movements during the operation of the shock absorbing mechamsm, I provide cheek plates 25-25 which have V,f guide-slots therein forthe keys J and KQ The cheek vplates 25, asillustrated in Figures l and 2, areriveted to the outer vsides of' the draft sills and are provided withlateral` longitudinally disposed, enlarged sections, which are accommodated within longitudinally disposed openings*Y Orl-slots 26 providedY in the draft sills. Each of the cheek plates 25 is provided with a relatively long slot 27 at the forward end thereof, and a ,shorter` slot 28 at the rear end.v The' slots 27 of the two cheek plates are aligned and accommodate j the outer end portions of the key J for movement. The slots 28 at the rear, ends of the cheeklplates 25 are also aligned and accommodate the outer ends of the key K for movement.` 'Asfclearly illustrated in Figures l and 2,-the slots 28 arefshorter than the slots 27. In *the normal full release position of the parts, the" key K is in abutment with the front end walls-ofthe slots 28 and engages the inner end wall of the slot-24 of the front follower block D, thereby serving .as limiting stop means for the front end ofthe friction shell or casingl of the friction shock absorbing device. out'that the slot 24 of the block D is of such a length as tol permit a certain amount of-inward movement of the' block D with respect to the key Kfbefore the key is engaged bythe front end wall of the slot of the block D to move the key inwardly of the mechanism. `As shown in Figure l, the key J is normally In this connection, itis pointed` held in engagement with thefront end walls of the slots 22 of the side members of the yoke B and in Aspaced relation to` the front end walls of theV slots 27 of the cheekpplates. It willbe noted that in this position ofthe parts,

the. key .I is spaced a greater distance from the rear end walls ofthe slots 27 than from `the `front Veind walls ofthe slots of the same.

Greater movement is thus providedV in buff than in draft. Although -theamount of movement permitted in `both buff and dra-ft may lee-varied, the' parts 'are preferably so designed that there will be approximately two andone-half inches o f movement in draftv and five Vinches of movement in buff. Y

- 'Ihe bufiing spring resistance II comprises two sets of spring elements arranged-on opposite Ysides of the sills, each set preferably comprising rtwo springs disposed above and @below the key Kand liavingjtherear `ends thereof bearing on fixed abutment brackets 29-29 securedto theoutersides of the draft sills l0. Atthe forward end, the membersof each'setfof springelements II bear on thev spring follOwe'rF, which; has itsl outward movement limited by a-stop member 30 projecting laterally from the 1 corresponding cheek plate. As shownin Figure 2, the top.

andbottomfsectionsof the stop member 3() are separated bythe slot/27 of.A the cheek plate.

Each spring followervFcomprises a platelike section having aV rearward extension in' the form ofan arm'l wliich'is slotted at the reai' end, :is indicatedY at 32, to-*accoinmodate f "Y thefcorresponding outer end' of the key'K.

Asshown, thekey K 'closely'fts the' opening`` A32 so that the V spring follower "F will have movement in unisonwith the key yin both' in- Vward and outward directions.- VAt the for.-

the required'inward movement of the coupler key J during buit without being interfered with by the spring'followers F.

The centering spring elements are arV ranged in sets on the outer sides ofthe draft sills, each set preferably comprising two coils arranged above and below the key J. The forward ends of the coils of the springs G bear directly on the inner side ofthe end sill 15 and the inner ends thereof bear directly on the front spring followers E, which are interposed between these. springs and the stops 30. Each ofthe spring followers E have top and bottom plateli ke sections which form the abutments for the springs. Each has a forwardly extending arm 34e, which is slotted asindicated at35 to accommodate the corresponding end of the `key J. As shown, the slot 35 is open at the rear end and in alignment with the recess 33 vof the rear' spring follower F at the same side of the mechanism. the slot 35 and the recess or opening-33 forming, in eifect, a continuous slot when the parts are in the normal position.

-' The key J vis normally forced inwardly by the centering` springs Gand is heldin engagementwith the inner end `of the slot in the coupler shank, thereby holding the flat rear` end portion of the coupler 'shankin engagement with the front follower block D. thus maintaining the coupler centered and preventing lateral tilting of the same. It

will be evidentV that inasmuch as the springsV G bear on opposite ends of the key J, arock-V ing tendency of the key and the coupler A in a lateral direction will be yieldingly resisted.

The operation of the improved railway draft rigging, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, assuming a bufling action, is as follows: Upon inward movement of the coupler A, the front follower block D will be forced inwardly, thereby transmitting the actuating force directly to the friction shock absorbing device C, which is held against movement by the rear follower20 which en; gages the'end section of the yoke, the latter being held against movement vby the stop casting 12. During vthe first part o-f the buff`r ing action, the friction shock absorbing mechanism C only will be actuated, relative move# ment between the front followerblock D and the key K being permitted by the Vlost motion connection providedV by the slot 24t'which accommodatesrthe key. When the lost motion has been taken-up, the key K will be directly actuated through the block D, thereby pulling Y the spring followers F inwardly and compressing the spring resistance elements. H between the same and the abutments 29;` This action will continue untilinward movement of the key K is limited by engagement with the rear end walls of the 'slots 23V of the v rcheek plates. During release, the lsprings H will force the key K outwardly andthe eX- pansion of the friction shock absorbing device C will force ythe block 'D outwardly until limited by engagement with the key K, the f latter beinglimited in its outward movement by engagement with the'front end walls of" the slots 28 of the cheek plates. It' will be noted vthat during the buiiing action, the` coupler key VJ is moved substantially in unison with the coupler A and lthat this movement will be accommodated bythe slots 35 i in the front spring followersV E' and bythe openings 33 in the armspof the rear spring.l f

followers F. During a draft yoke B will be by compressing thefriction shock absorbing device between the follower 20 and the front follower block D which is held substantially stationary by the key K. Forward movement action, thefkey J Win b pulled' forwardly in unison with the coupler of the yoke B is limited vby engagement of`V the rear end walls of the key-receiving slots of the yoke B coming in engagement with the key K. During the forward movement of the coupler, the keyV J `which isY movable therewith, will also effect compression ofthe centering springs G. c

Referring to the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in Figure 3, it is pointed out that the operation of the mechanism is substantially the same as that shown in Figures.

1 and 2, but that the centeringfspringsand thebumng springs, which act in addition to the friction shock absorbing device, are associated with a yoke-which is vertically. disposed and a railway draft rigging wherein frontand rear stop lugs are provided on the draft sills. In this type of railway draft rigging, it is the custom to employ only a single key member which connects the coupler shank to the yoke.V

Figure 3.V in Figure 3, the draft sill is desig- This key is indicated by P in .i

nated by 110, the angle end sill by 114, and

the end sill by 115. The arrangement of the parts just referred to is the same as that in` Figuresl and 2, and the usual combined striking `casting and carry iron is Yalso vemployed. The key P, which connects the couypler to the yoke, extends through aligned slots llwhich` are providedin the draft sills." c

Secured to the opposite-ends ofthekey are spring followers, oneof which is shown and designated-'by the. charactervL. Each spring follower comprises a slotted arm 118 'which'v receives the corresponding end of the key, the spring followerfbeing thus connected to the key to move in unison therewith. Each spring .follower has top and bottom, verti cally disposed platelike sections whichcoeA opera-te directly Lwith the vcentering and buff.-

ing springs.v Thefcen'tering Asprings M," as f shown in Figure 3, 'comprise upper andlower Vcoils` which areV interposed between the end sill 'and the spring follower L. vThev biiiiingV j springs N'also comprise top and bottom Icoils which are interposed between the spring follower `L and a stopvbracket 119. l i 'p rIfhe centering springsMia'ct to centerthe coupler in a manner similar to the springs m G, hereinbefore referred to. Inasmnch as the coupler key is'movable with the coiipler in Ybuff, Vthelouiing springs Ny will be coinpressed at the same time that the friction shock absorbing mechanism isl operated.

From the preceding description, taken in connection with the drawing, itwillbe evi- Vdent that I have provided a railway draft fiigg'ing having relativelylong stroke during "buff to takecare offlieavy shocks, vwherein 2 the shocks ,are resisted 'by both afr'iction shock absorbing device and a spring shock absorbing means, the latter beingeffectivel after a` predetermined compression Yof the mechanism, and wherein a: relatively shorter stroke is provided in" draft, during which the friction shock absorbing device is, in effect, actuated alone,'a slight additional resistance being provided by centering springs Y which are effective tocenter theconpler and prevent lateral tiltingof the same.y

WVhile I' have hereinishown Yand .describedwhat I consider the preferred mannervof car-v rying out of my invention, the same is merely s illustrative, and I contemplate all changes and modifications which come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim: 1. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with draft sills; of a friction shock absorbing mechanism interposed between the sills; a coupler; a pressure transmittingv block interposed between the coupler 'and the friction shock absorbing mechanism; a

i yoke enclosing the friction shock absorbing mechanism; an independent spring shock absorbing means; -a key having a lost mot-ion connection with the yoke and Aalso having a lost' motion connection with the*v pressureV j transmitting block and cooperating with the yspriiig'shock absorbing means, whereby the actuating force is transmitted to the friction s shock absorbing mechanism 4'during the entire vcnnpression stroke during buff and through 55jthepressure transmitting block to the spring shock absorbing means aftera predetermined compression of the friction shock absorbing mechanism. f

2. In a railway draft rigging, the combina- Y' 30; tion withY draft sills; of a shock absorbing means disposed between said sills; a coupler; a yoke connected to the shock absorbing .means to compress the same in draft, said Y yoke having a lost motion connection with the sa? coupler to vpermit inward ymovement ofthe coupler dnringa'buing action t'o compress said shock absorbing means; and spring meansat opposite-sides of thecdraft sills connected to the coupler for centering the coupler,jsaid spring means being compressed ing means'tov compress theV samein draft, said yoke having a lost motion connection with the coupler to permit 'inward movement ofthe latteriduring afbuiing action` to com,- presssaid shock absorbing means, said lost motion connectionincluding a key extending through slots in the coupler shank, yoke and draft sills; and spring means at opposite sidespof the sills co-,operati-ng wit-h said key to center the coupler,'said springs opposing outward movement of the coupler and being compressed by the outward movement there-V of'in draft. I v

V4. In a railway` draft rigging, the combination with draft sills; lof a shock absorbing means disposed between said sills; a coupler l cooperating with the shock absorbing means tocompress the same in draft; a yoke operatively connected to` ,the 'shock absorbing means, said yoke having ai 'lost motion connection with the coupler to permit inF ward movement of the latter during a buffing action to effect compression of the shock absorbing means, said lost motion connectionl includingakey extending through an openinginthe coupling shank and aligned slots-in the yoke and draft sills, said key cooperating' with theyoke tomove thesa'ine outwardly in draft-i to compressA the shock absorbing Y means; and springs atopposite sides ofthe sills bearing onsaid key and yieldinglymforcingvthe same rearwardly of the mechanism'j to center the coupler, said springs being conrpressed by the outward movement `of said"` key with the coupler in draft;

5. In a railway draft rigging, theircombi-.V

nation'with draft sills; of a shockabsorbing mechanism between said sills; spring shock absorbing means exterior to the draft sills; 'a couplerycooperating with Vsaid friction shock'absorbing means to compressthesame` during the entire permissible bufiing stroke. Vof the mechanism; means for transmitting the actuating force from the coupler to said' v spring shock vabsorbingfmeans after a predetermined compression of the mechanism during'buif means-for transmitting the actuating forceto the friction shock absorbingk mechanism during draft; and yielding means for kcentering the coupler, said yielding lmeans being Vcompressed during the 'draft' r`stroke inyunison with the frictioiishock abi-4` sorbing mechanism toA augment the resistance.

6. In a draft rigging,l the combination with draft sills; of a friction shock absorbing device disposed between said sills; a spring resistance disposed on thelouter sides of the sills; permanently xed abutment means at the inner end of said spring resistance; movable follower means at the front end ofsaid springresistance acoupler A; means actuated by the coupler in buff to compress said friction shock absorbing device to the full extent of the compression stroke thereof Vin buff, said means having a lost motion connection with said follower for actuating the spring resistance in buff after a predetermined compression of the friction shock absorbing device; and a yoke acting means connected to the coupler for actuating the friction device in draft to compress the same to an extent less than the complete'oompression stroke thereof in buff.

In witnessvthat I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 8th day of March 1928.

WILLIAM A. GEIGER. 

